The Heart is a Happy Hunter
by Cattie V
Summary: What if the kiss between Emma and Graham at the station had done more than just restore his memories? AU. Emma/Graham.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Once Upon A Time **_**or any of the characters therein…otherwise, I would not be writing this.**

**Author's Note: So this is going to be AU story. Hope you enjoy it!**

"I remember," Graham breathed, his entire life literally flashing before his eyes. He remembered. He was the Huntsman. He remembered…everything: being raised by wolves, being sent by Regina to kill Snow White, sparing her life, Regina taking his heart, helping Prince James escape, all of it.

"Graham?"

Graham looked up to see Emma staring at him, concern in her eyes. "I remember," he repeated, as a feeling of pure joy and happiness surged through him. For the last twenty-eight years, he had lived in a fog, never truly knowing who he was or what he was doing, but now he understood. Now, he was free.

"Remember what?" Emma asked, and as she spoke Graham realized that it was all because of her. He remembered hearing rumors about the curse before it had happened, rumors that there was one who could break it…a savior, a daughter of Snow White and the prince. Emma was that savior, he realized, unknowingly, she had freed him from the curse. This woman, that he now knew he loved, had freed him.

He got back to his feet and slowly approached her. A single tear rolled down his cheek as he gently cupped her face in his hands. "Thank you," he said simply. Emma smiled the most beautiful smile he had ever seen, even though she had no idea why he was thanking her. Then together, they both leaned in for another kiss.

"_If you ever run away, if you ever try and disobey me…"_

Regina remembered that threat as clearly as if she had just made it. For almost three decades, Graham had been hers, but now because of some cutesy blonde he had decided to move on with his life…and leave Regina behind.

She stared at his heart. How easy it would be to crush it, to take his life. After all she had warned him all those years ago. True, he no longer remembered that threat, but that did not change a thing. He had disobeyed her.

She stared at the heart. She started to squeeze, but stopped herself. She remembered the feel of his body next to hers, the touch of his lips on hers. She shook her head. She cared for Graham. True, he would never be to her what Daniel had been, but there was no denying the fact that she did still feel for Graham. After all, she had slept with him fairly often for thirty years.

She shook herself. Her feelings for the man aside, this had to be done. He was starting to remember, and what would happen if he regained all of his memories? This would not do. She's lose everything…she'd lose Henry.

It was that thought that decided it for her. She took a deep breath, and began to squeeze, but nothing happened. Regina frowned. The heart was beating. She tried again. Still nothing. She examined the heart closely. It was Graham's heart, of that she was perfectly sure. And when she just held it, it felt like a normal, beating heart. But when she tried to squeeze it, it became hard as stone.

Slowly, Regina began to realize what was happening. Graham's heart could not be destroyed. "No," she whispered. She threw it on the ground and tried to stomp on it, but it was still there, in one piece. "No, no, no, no, no!"

She tried throwing it against the wall, she tried everything she could think of, but nothing could destroy that heart. Regina sunk against the wall in despair. "How?" she asked herself. She closed her eyes.

"_True love's kiss, dearie. It is the most powerful magic of all._" Regina opened her eyes. "It can't be!" If Graham and Emma had kissed…"NO!" Regina exclaimed, as rage took ahold of her. All kind and charitable thoughts of Graham vanished, and she wanted nothing more than to kill him.

_If I can't crush his heart,_ she thought, _then I'll just have to find some other way to kill him._ And with that in mind, she got up and left the vault.

"Good night, Mary Margaret."

"Good night, Ruby." Mary Margaret opened the door to Granny's dinner and stepped out into the fresh night air. As she closed the door behind her, she took a deep breath, relishing the feel of the night chill on her face.

Realizing how late it was, Mary Margaret hurried away from the dinner, wondering if she should call Dr. Whale. Suddenly, Mary Margaret heard a laugh and she turned to see where it had come from.

Coming towards her in the distance were a couple walking hand and hand and laughing. As they got closer, Mary Margaret realized that it was Emma and Graham. A huge smile spread across her face. She wondered if she should greet them or leave and let them continue on their way undisturbed.

She had just made up her mind to go away unnoticed when Emma spotted her. Emma stopped in her tracks and Graham turned to see what she was looking at. "Oh, hi…Sn…Mary Margaret." Mary Margaret got the feeling that he had been just about to call her Snow White. She guessed he had been hanging out with Henry for too long.

Mary Margaret smiled in greeting. "Hi, Graham. Emma." Mary Margaret took her friends hand and squeezed it to let her know that she wasn't judging…and that she was in fact happy for her friend. Emma relaxed and smiled back.

"Well," said Graham, sounding rather reluctant, "it's getting late. I should head on home." He looked at Emma. "See you tomorrow, Emma." He bent down and gave Emma a quick kiss on the cheek before hurrying off.

"Wow," said Mary Margaret once he was out of ear shot, "looks like you've had a great day."

Emma smiled. "You have no idea." Together the two friends started walking back in the direction of the apartment.

For a while they walked together in silence. "I'm happy for you," Mary Margaret said after a few minutes.

"Thanks," Emma said. "I never thought…well, it's been a long time since I've felt this way…about anyone."

Mary Margaret nodded in understanding. "Graham's a good man, Emma. I'm glad you let him in."

Emma smiled. "Me too."

**Author's Note: One word, dearies: review! Please! Seriously, the more reviews I get the more likely I am to update sooner!**


	2. Chapter 1: The Day After

**Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews! There's the first chapter!**

Henry may only have been ten years old, but he was not stupid and he knew his mom well enough to know when something was up. One look at her face and he knew something had happened…something that made her angry and he wisely decided to not ask her about it.

So, as they sat at the table eating breakfast, neither spoke. Henry just ate his food as quickly as he could without making it seem like he was in a hurry to get away from her. She probably wouldn't have noticed though, as she was busy attacking her own food with such a vengeance and ferocity as if it had personally done her an injury.

Once Henry had finished the last of his food, he quickly grabbed his backpack. "Bye, Mom!" he said, quickly before heading out the door before she could stop him. Regina, however, didn't even notice, she was too busy wrapped up in her own thoughts.

Henry had only made it about a hundred yards for so from the house, when someone grabbed him from behind. Henry yelled and began to struggle, but a hand quickly covered his mouth. "Shush, Henry. It's only me." Henry recognized the voice and stopped struggling and the hand slipped from his mouth.

"Graham?" Henry looked up at the sheriff in surprise. "What-?"

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you. I need to talk to you. I just didn't want your mother to see me." Graham looked around as if he were afraid Regina might suddenly appear. "Look, it's really important that I talk to you. Okay?"

Henry nodded. "Okay, but I have to get to the school bus. I don't want to be late for school."

"How about I drive you to school?" Graham pointed and Henry noticed the sheriff's car was parked across the street. "That way we can talk on the way."

"Sure. Okay." Henry followed Graham to the car and opened the passenger side door. "So, what do you want to talk about?" he asked, as he buckled himself in. "Do you have more questions about my book?"

"Not exactly," said Graham as he started the car. He didn't say anything else until they were on the road. "I remember," he said finally. "Everything."

Henry's eyes grew wide with excitement. "You do? Really?"

"Yes, really," Graham gave Henry a smile.

"That's…" Henry couldn't find the right words. He was right…about everything. Graham was the Huntsman and he remembered. "What made you remember?" Graham blushed and couldn't look Henry in the eye. "You kissed Emma again, didn't you?" said Henry, not sure how he felt about Graham kissing his mom.

"Actually, she kissed me this time."

Henry pondered this. Why would kisses between his mom and the sheriff restore Graham's memories? Of course! "That's it!" Henry cried, excited.

Graham looked at him in confusion. "What?"

"True love's kiss! That's why you remember!" Graham blinked processing his piece of information. "True love's kiss is the most powerful magic there is," Henry explained, "it's even powerful enough to break any curse! That's why you remember! Well, that and Emma is the savior."

"If that's true, then why isn't the curse lifted for everyone?" Graham asked.

_Good question,_ thought Henry. He thought it over for a few minutes before answering. "I guess because Emma doesn't really believe in the curse. I know she pretends to for my sake, but she just doesn't believe." Graham nodded, in understanding. "But if we tell her you remember than she'll have to believe!" Henry added, excitedly.

"Henry," Graham said, "I don't think Emma's ready. She's a tough woman, but emotionally she's unprepared for this. If I say anything to her, I'm afraid it will only make things worse. It would drive over the edge."

"So, what do you think we should do?" asked Henry.

"Just what we normally do," Graham said simply. "You keep talking to her about the curse, but leave me out of it. Let's give her time to get used the idea of the curse. I don't want to force it on her."

Henry nodded. "Okay."

They pulled up at the school and Henry began to unbuckle. "Two more things," said Graham, catching Henry's attention. "One, don't tell Regina. She may already know that I've got my memory back and I'll confront her in my own time and way. Alright?"

"Right. What's number two?"

Graham grinned sheepishly. "I can have your permission to date Emma?"

Henry smiled. "Her kiss broke your curse. She's your true love and you are hers. Of course, you can date my mom!"

Graham smiled back. "Thank you, Henry, that means a lot to me."

Emma's eyes slowly drifted open. She sat up and yawned and a smile made its way to her mouth when she recalled the events of the previous night. She flopped back down on the bed and let out a sigh of contentment. It had been so long since she had opened up to a man, to let herself love that she had forgotten how good it felt.

With that thought came memories of Neal Cassady. Emma quickly tried to push them aside, to tell herself that that ship had sailed long ago and that Graham was nothing like Neal. Graham wouldn't hurt her.

Emma tried to tell herself that, but deep down she still had doubts. She had been hurt before, she couldn't bear it to be hurt a second time. She knew it was just the fear talking, but that still didn't change how she felt.

The smell of food coming from the kitchen distracted her and Emma slipped out of bed and made her way to the kitchen where she found Mary Margaret cooking scrambled eggs. Just as Emma entered the room, the toaster dinged and two pieces of toast popped up. Wordlessly, Mary Margaret grabbed them and put one on a plate.

Mary Margaret smiled when she saw her roommate. "Good morning!" Emma smiled back and sat down at the table. She drummed her fingers on the surface.

Mary Margaret studied her friend for a moment. "You're not regretting letting Graham past your wall, are you?"

Emma looked up. "What? No…it's just…it's been such a longer time since I've let anyone in and the last guy I did…well, he ended up hurting me…and I'm afraid…"

"Of getting hurt again," Mary Margaret finished for her. Emma nodded and looked back down at the table. Mary Margaret scooped up the eggs and put them on the plates. She brought them over to the table and put one in front of Emma before sitting down with the other.

"I may not have had great success with relationships," she said, "but I know Graham. He's a good man. He's got a good heart. And if you care about him at all, then you are just going to have to trust him…and trust that he would never do anything to intentionally hurt you."

Emma met her friend's gaze and nodded. "I know." Mary Margaret reached over and squeezed her friend's hand.

Graham was already at the station when Emma arrived. He was sitting in his desk going over some paper work. When Emma saw him, she suddenly felt very shy and all her doubts from earlier came back. He looked up when she entered and he quickly put the papers down. "Hi," she said.

"Hi, yourself," he said, and Emma realized he was just as nervous as she was. "About last night," he began. _Oh, no, _Emma thought, _here it comes. He's going to say it was a mistake._ She bit her lip, determined not to cry.

"I know we kissed and had some laughs afterwards," continued Graham, obviously oblivious to what she was feeling. "But I wanted to make it official." Emma blinked. _What?_ "So," said Graham, drawing that word out, "Emma, will you go out with me?"

"Wait," said Emma, "you mean, you want to date me?" Graham nodded. "Why?" she blurted, catching herself as well as Graham by surprise.

"Why?" said Graham. "I thought that would be obvious."

"Sorry," said Emma, leaning against the wall. "It's just that…I've had bad experiences before and…." she trailed off, unable to look him in the face.

Suddenly, she felt his hand under her face and he gently lifted her head up so that she could meet his gaze. "And so have I, remember?" His voice was gentle and not at all judging. "I know I'm not perfect and I know I will make mistakes along the way, but I'm willing to try all the same…that is if you are too."

He let go of her chin and took a step back, waiting for her answer. Emma nodded. "I am." Graham smiled and offered her his hand. When she took it, he gently pulled her to him and held her close. Emma didn't protest. It felt good to be in his arms.

Then he bent and down kissed her. He started to pull away, but Emma reached up and put her hand on his head, stopping him.

Suddenly, she was the one to pull away. "Henry." She looked at Graham. "Graham, I-"

"Don't worry about Henry," he told her. "I've already had a talk with him."

"You did?" Emma asked, surprised.

Graham nodded. "I felt that since he's the other man in your life, that it would only be right if I asked him for his permission to date you before asking you." He suddenly looked a bit sheepish. "Are you angry with me?"

Emma shook her head. "No. In fact, I think it's kind of sweet of you." Graham laughed and Emma put her arms around him. "Now, where were we?" Graham smiled as their lips met.

**Author's Note: So, I hope you liked it! Please, review!**


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